February 22, 2012

Getting To Know Cavalier Attitude

July 1, 2008 By 12 Comments

While I may still be relatively new to this whole blogging thing, one thing about that is that it’s easy to remember certain things. I remember the first Cavaliers blog I ever stumbled upon was Cavalier Attitude, a part of the MVN network. If you’re not familiar with Amar Panchmatia, one of Cavalier Attitude’s writers, you should be. The best compliment I could give Amar is that he’s like the Charles Barkley of blogging (I mean this in a good way, I promise). Amar is the fiery, outspoken blogger who says and writes the things the rest of us wish we could. Amar’s unbridled passion and enthusiasm for the Cleveland Cavaliers and basketball in general comes through in almost every single one of his posts. If you’re not a regular reader of Cavalier Attitude, check the site out from our blogroll to the right and feel free to add them to your list of daily reads.

Anyway, Amar was kind enough to invite us to participate in a reciprocal Q&A session, and we were more than happy to oblige. I posted my questions for Amar and his responses below. Be sure to check out Cavalier Attitude on Thursday when Amar will be posting the questions he asked of yours truly and my responses to those questions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogger Interviews, Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Exclusive: WFNY Sits Down With Terry Pluto

June 4, 2008 By 23 Comments

Terry Pluto

It isn’t every day that a blogger gets to talk with a member of the mainstream media. I’d like to think that the odds are even slimmer if said member has been twice honored with the award of Nation’s Top Sports Columnist; not to mention one who has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize on two separate occasions. But Terry Pluto, author of 23 books (including Dealing and The Franchise), as well as a featured columnist within the Cleveland Plain Dealer, was gracious enough to take time out of his busy schedule to field questions from yours truly.

If you live in Cleveland, or follow Cleveland sports, you have read – and most likely admired – the works of Terry. Since coming over to the Plain Dealer, he is featured several times per week, garnering the entire back page of the Sunday sports section with his weekly “Talkin’” column. Assuming you’ve read his work, you know why he is the eight-time recipient of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award.

This discussion took place right after the Tribe was finished getting swept by the Chicago White Sox, which obviously  occurred not long after the Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. What follows the jump is a pretty lengthy discussion, but one that could not have been more timely given the current state of Cleveland sports. Please feel free to leave your comments below. And again, we are very thankful for the opportunity. As always, do enjoy.

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Let’s start off with the Tribe. Regarding the Indians, things have not been too pretty; starting an 11 game road trip, heading to Kansas City only winning two of the last 10. Off of the top of your head, are there any immediate thoughts regarding the last three (or so) weeks?

If you look at most teams, you have four areas that determine how well you play – and if you do not have at least three of them working for you, you’re in trouble. The four are your starting pitching, your bullpen, your defense and your hitting. The Indians problem is that two of the four have consistently been wildly malfunctioning. If you consider all of the hitting metrics, the offense has been awful. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Best of the Web, Blogger Interviews, Browns, Cavaliers, Gladiators, Indians Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Red’s Army Revisited

May 8, 2008 By 1 Comment

lebronmouthpiece.jpgWe chatted with John over at Red’s Army before game one. Here’s the second installment of our ongoing playoff conversation…

Red’s Army- So LeBron and Paul Pierce/Ray Allen EACH went 2-18 with 10 turnovers.  Which of those scares you more?

WFNY- Well, as a Cavalier fan Pierce and Allen going 2-18 doesn’t scare me at all…
 
If you are asking which is likely to happen again, I’d say neither. Pierce sat out a lot of the first half with the fouls, and I don’t know what was going on with Allen. Every time Ray took a shot in the second half I expected the thing to drop. He wasn’t wide open, but I wouldn’t call the defense on him stiff to be certain.
 
That wasn’t LeBron. We’re still not sure who that was. Someone suggested a ‘sulk game’ because of the MVP voting, but that kind of thing usually inspires LeBron. I couldn’t believe all the turnovers, or the shots that literally went in the cylinder and came back out. Unbelievable. The sad thing is that when you have a chance to steal one on the road you have to do it. [Read more...]

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A Quick Chat With Red’s Army

May 6, 2008 By 8 Comments

garnett.jpgRed’s Army is one of the many good Celtics blogs out there. Rock gave a good list in his Conference Semi’s Preview. We didn’t have much time with John today, hopefully we’ll be able to connect as the series progresses.

WFNY- Why don’t we start with the front court match-ups- who scares you, what will Boston try to do with those match-ups…

John, Red’s Army- My biggest fear is Cleveland on the offensive boards. I don’t think there is any 1-on-1 match-up that scares me. But what scares me is the focus on LeBron when he drives taking the attention away from box-out assignments. If the Celts can get LeBron to pass off to the wing when he drives… and they DON’T rebound a miss… that will be a killer. I can see a scenario where Perkins comes over to help, and no one rotates over to help block out the forward… and then we have an easy putback.

I think the Celtics can take advantage of the slower Cavs front court on the offensive end. Garnett is too quick for Z and too tall for Wallace. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogger Interviews, Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A Friendly Chat With…Truth About It Dot Net

May 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment

arenas.jpgWhen you have teams going at each other like the Cavs and Wizards have been, it’s fair to say that fans of those teams won’t see eye to eye. The folks over at Truth About It dot net have questioned some of our analysis. (Ok, mostly mine.) So I thought we’d talk about tonight’s big game and the series in general.

WFNY- First question, are the Wizards really a better team without Arenas on the floor?

Truth About It- The short and sweet answer is yes, right now they are (his injury factors in heavily on my answer). The question everyone will ask is what about Gil and next year (if he stays true to his word on opting-out). I like Gilbert Arenas, he’s a card. I enjoy his charisma and his killer instinct on offense…a prerequisite if a team ever expects to have championship hopes. However, Gilbert has many hills to climb in terms of gaining maturity. I’m optimistic that it can be done, but I just hope his quirkiness doesn’t hold him back.

In your post after game 5, you were pretty pissed at Mike Brown. To myself, and then Prada on Bullets Forever, this seemed like an unfair knee-jerk reaction. Do you feel the same today? The reason I ask is that I’ve been a supporter of Eddie Jordan from day one….but Wizards fans have been back and forth all year….most recently expressing their desire for Mike D’Antoni or Avery Johnson after the Wizards loss in game 4. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogger Interviews, Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Friendly Chat with….Dan Steinberg

April 30, 2008 By 4 Comments

DC Sports BlogHe’s the man behind the DC Sports Bog at the Washington Post. He’s in town for game 5 of the Cavaliers/Wizards series, and we couldn’t resist getting his opinion of this outrageous series.

Full disclosure. I like Dan. Never met him before, but you can get to know him through his writing. I like that. I like that he doesn’t take himself or his teams too seriously. He seems to get that he has a good thing going over at the Post, and he’s going to ride it for all it’s worth. He has an audience, and that audience happens to be Wizard fans right now. He’s been critical of some local writers (Patrick McManamon and Bill Livingston for example) but I wonder, is he adding fuel to the fire?

WFNY- For the record, where would you place LeBron when it comes to his talent or performance in the NBA? Top 5? Top 10? 41st?

Dan Steinberg- Well, I’m no GM. At this exact moment in time, I’d say Kobe, Chris Paul and LeBron seem to be the three players most able to influence a game by themselves. I’ve never thought LeBron was overrated, and I wrote write after DeShawn’s comments that he was pretty stupid to say that. I think I did, anyhow. (He in fact did.)

WFNY- Is all of the extra-curricular stuff good for the game? Does that matter? Do you find it more entertaining this way?

DS- Good for the game of basketball? I’d guess probably not. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Best of the Web, Blogger Interviews, Cavaliers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

QB Wanted…an interview with MGoBlog

February 4, 2008 By 4 Comments

 

tresselrichrod.jpg

As the recruiting season wraps up, there is at least one major piece still in play, that being Pennsylvania quarterback Terrelle Pryor. His story has been well documented, from his early interest in Ohio State, to learning about Rich Rodriguez’ move to Michigan before West Virginia did. Most recently his connection to a prominent businessman, and decision to wait until after signing day to make up his mind have all been big Internet stories. Most ‘insiders’ and experts are saying this is a two team battle between Ohio State and Michigan, as Oregon’s chances flew out the window Monday.

michqb.jpgRock has been following this very closely, and will post after Pryor signs, but I started thinking about what this recruit means to the rivalry, and more specifically to Michigan. With a new coach, new system, and few returning stars on offense, doesn’t UM have more to lose here than the Buckeyes? I decided to ask Michigan fan Brian Cook of MGoBlog and Fanhouse fame to answer some questions, and don’t you know he was willing to talk with us.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogger Interviews, Buckeyes, General Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,